Composer Of The Week

Donald Macleod continues his journey through the life of Ludwig van Beethoven.

In this week’s episode, Donald Macleod traces Beethoven’s story through the momentous years of 1802 and 1803. It was a time that saw remarkable developments in Beethoven’s creativity as he pursued a self-declared ‘new path’ for his music. He undertook his most ambitious works yet, pouring his whole self into his art. At the same time his personal life was reaching a crisis point that would plunge him to the darkest depths of despair and threaten to ruin all his carefully laid plans for the future.

Composer of the Week is returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: New Pathways https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000j8k8

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

In this week’s episode, Donald Macleod and his guests discuss some personal favourites from Beethoven's vocal music, taking in the giants of choral repertory like the Missa Solemnis and the ninth symphony, his opera Fidelio and orchestral vocal music, as well as relishing the astonishing variety of his song-writing, from the song cycle An die Ferne Geliebte and the most profoundly moving vocal masterpieces, to a comic song most likely dashed off to amuse friends in a bar.

Composer of the Week will be returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: Beethoven and the Voice https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hv23

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod continues his journey through the life of Ludwig van Beethoven.

In this week’s episode, Donald Macleod traces Beethoven’s story through the years 1799-1801. As he reaches his thirtieth birthday, we see Beethoven finally emerging as a mature composer and beginning to produce the enduring works that will mark him out as one of the great artists of his age. But there are clouds on the horizon too, and we see the first intimations of a serious problem with his hearing.

Composer of the Week will be returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: Fate https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000hflg

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Recorded at the piano, in the Angela Burgess Recital Hall at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Jonathan shares his life-long passion for Beethoven with Donald. As they talk, he demonstrates how and why Beethoven's piano sonatas advanced the genre far beyond anything that anyone had ever achieved previously. As they talk we will gain a performer's perspective of Beethoven's developmental trajectory.

Composer of the Week will be returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: At the Keyboard https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000h02g

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod follows Beethoven’s progress as he seeks out wealthy Viennese patrons for his music.

This week, Donald Macleod follows Beethoven through the years 1796-99, as the young composer learns to negotiate the privileged and moneyed circles of Vienna’s culture-loving aristocracy. Few can resist his extraordinary charisma as a virtuoso pianist but will he also be able to persuade them of his talents as a composer? In this episode, Beethoven undertakes his first international tour, reluctantly accepts piano students, puts his music before a wider public and starts work on his ambitious first symphony.

Composer of the Week will be returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: The Drawing Room Demon https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gkqk

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod and Erica Buurman examine some of Beethoven’s personal possessions at the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.

This week, Donald Macleod takes us to Beethoven’s home town of Bonn and the Beethoven-Haus museum which now occupies the building where he was born. Donald is joined by Erica Buurman, director of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, and together they explore some of the everyday objects and household artefacts owned by the composer to see what they can tell us about how he lived. We’ll hear about Beethoven’s hearing aids and the onset of his hearing loss. Next, with his personal cashbox, they talk about his relationship with money and the world of business. We’ll discover Beethoven’s domestic circumstances by inspecting his cut-throat razor, and his walking stick and writing desk shine a light on his everyday processes. Finally, Donald and Erica compare various samples of the composer’s hair.

Composer of the Week will be returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: At Homehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000g3l7

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod uncovers the story and prolific output of American composer Florence Price.

Florence Price became a highly successful classical composer, organist, pianist and teacher of music during the twentieth century in America. She was the first African-American woman to be recognised as a composer of symphonic music, and also the first African-American woman to have her works performed by one of the world’s leading orchestras. In collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Research Council, BBC Radio 3 launched the Forgotten Women Composers Project. Championed by the composer and educator Shirley Thompson, Florence Price became a particular focus for the project. Scores by Florence Price were located and recorded by BBC Orchestras and Choirs. It will be the first time Florence Price has been featured on Composer of the Week, and the series is supplemented by many specially recorded works. Over the course of the episode, we’ll hear about the impact racial prejudice and marriage had on her life and career, her battles for recognition, ultimate fame, and her prolific output, despite health issues late in life.

Music featured:The Deserted GardenSonata in E minor (Andante – Allegro)Suite for Organ No 1 (Fughetta and Air)The OakViolin Concerto No 2My DreamCotton DanceThe Old BoatmanThe Moon BridgeMy Soul’s been anchored in the LordSymphony No 1 in E minorSong for SnowSinner Don’t Let This Harvest PassPoem of PraisePiano Concerto in D minorDances in the CanebrakesSuite for Organ No 1 (Toccata)Sonata in E minor (Andante)SympathyThe Glory of the day was in her faceResignationSymphony No 3The Goblin and the MosquitoConcert Overture No 2Five Folksongs in Counterpoint (Drink to me only with thine eyes)NightMy Soul’s Been Anchored in the LordViolin Concerto No 1 in D major

Presented by Donald MacleodProduced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Florence Pricehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fwf0

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod follows Beethoven as he sets himself up in his new home of Vienna.

All through 2020, Donald Macleod takes an unprecedented deep dive into the compelling story and extraordinary music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In this uniquely ambitious series, told across 125 episodes of Composer of the Week, Donald puts us inside Beethoven’s world and explores his hopes, struggles and perseverance in all the colourful detail this amazing narrative deserves. Alongside this in-depth biography, Donald will also be meeting and talking to Beethoven enthusiasts and experts from across the world to discover how his music continues to speak to us in the 21st century. Through story and sound, the series builds into a vivid new portrait of this composer, born 250 years ago this year, who made art that changed how people saw themselves and understood the world.

This week, Donald Macleod’s focus is on Beethoven’s first months and years in Vienna, following his move there from his home town of Bonn. The young composer was still in his early twenties, low on cash, and had only a handful of works to his name. He was going to have to work hard to find success in the imperial capital, where audiences had grown up on the music of Mozart and Haydn.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: Making His Wayhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000fmt0

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod looks at five themes in Claudio Monteverdi's life through the letters he wrote.

Claudio Monteverdi’s compositions range from the secular to the sacred. He is a composer whose work spans the Renaissance and Baroque periods of musical history, and is known as a pioneer of the development of opera in Italy throughout the early 17th century. Throughout the week, Donald looks at five themes in Monteverdi’s life through the letters he wrote. Using Denis Stevens’ translations from the 1970s, we look at the excuses given by Monteverdi – a perpetually busy man – for not finishing compositions on time, the politics and hierarchy of life in the Italian Courts and Church, the financial struggles faced by Monteverdi, the illnesses that plagued his life and the lives of his close family and the importance of his family throughout his life.

Across the episode, we’ll hear stories of Monteverdi’s penchant for procrastination, his revered opinions of singers, many financial struggles, tempestuous heath and the lengths he went to in order to support his family.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Claudio Monteverdihttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000ffwm

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod is joined by Raphael Wallfisch and Sara Bitlloch to discuss Beethoven’s early chamber music.

All through 2020, Donald Macleod takes an unprecedented deep dive into the compelling story and extraordinary music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In this uniquely ambitious series, told across 125 episodes of Composer of the Week, Donald puts us inside Beethoven’s world and explores his hopes, struggles and perseverance in all the colourful detail this amazing narrative deserves. Alongside this in-depth biography, Donald will also be meeting and talking to Beethoven enthusiasts and experts from across the world to discover how his music continues to speak to us in the 21st century. Through story and sound, the series builds into a vivid new portrait of this composer, born 250 years ago this year, who made art that changed how people saw themselves and understood the world.

This week, cellist Raphael Wallfisch and violinist Sara Bitlloch join Donald Macleod to talk about Beethoven’s early chamber music from 1795 to 1811, including beloved works such as the ‘Razumovsky’ quartets, the ‘Kreutzer’ violin sonata, and the ‘Ghost’ and ‘Archduke’ piano trios.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: Conversations with Friendshttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000f5mp

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Samuel Wesley was a child prodigy, and it was the older composer William Boyce who said of the boy that he was the English Mozart, and that he had dropped down from heaven. Wesley’s star speedily ascended to the heights from an early age as both performer and composer, but with issues surrounding his often extreme character, and also his health and morals, this ascendency was not to last. His popularity went in and out of fashion during his lifetime, and trying to secure a permanent position as an organist was something which eluded him for a long time. However, he was one of Britain’s leading musicians, mixed in the highest circles, and was responsible for promoting the largely unknown J. S. Bach to these shores. Towards the end of his life, famous musicians and composers sought Wesley out and even Mendelssohn asked the famed organist Samuel Wesley to play for him. We’re only just beginning to understand Wesley’s importance to the development of British classical music, and many of his substantial works, including numerous concertos for piano, organ, and violin, and large scale works for choir and orchestra, all still remain to be recorded.

In this week’s episode, we’ll hear about Wesley’s religious background and fluctuating views, his circle of friends, his virtuosic performance career, his passion for JS Bach, and the mystery surrounding his health.

Music featured:Symphony in A major (Brillante)O Lord God most holyMight I in thy sight appearPsalm 42 & 43Dixit DominusPreludium, Ariette & Fuga in C minorSymphony in A majorFugue in B minor for Dr MendelssohnSinfonia obbligatoO sing unto mie roundelaieVoluntary in DAir and GavotteViolin Concerto No 2 in D majorSonatina Op 4 No 1Sonatina Op 4 No 2Duet for the organSymphony in E flatArrangement with Variation of Rule BritanniaRondo on God rest you merry, GentlemenAll go unto one placeDuet in B flat major (for Eliza)Voluntary in D, Op 6 No 8Handel Arr. Wesley Rejoice the Lord is KingSymphony in D majorString Quartet in E flat major (Allegro spiritoso)Confitebor tibi, DomineVoluntary in G minorOde to St Cecilia (extract)Might I in thy sight appearMemoriam fecit mirabilium suorumSymphony in B flat majorFidelia omnia mandata ejusPresented by Donald MacleodProduced by Luke Whitlock for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Samuel Wesleyhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dy1k

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod looks for clues in Beethoven’s early life that point towards the great man he would become.

All through 2020, Donald Macleod takes an unprecedented deep dive into the compelling story and extraordinary music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In this uniquely ambitious series, told across 125 episodes of Composer of the Week, Donald puts us inside Beethoven’s world and explores his hopes, struggles and perseverance in all the colourful detail this amazing narrative deserves. Alongside this in-depth biography, Donald will also be meeting and talking to Beethoven enthusiasts and experts from across the world to discover how his music continues to speak to us in the 21st century. Through story and sound, the series builds into a vivid new portrait of this composer, born 250 years ago this year, who made art that changed how people saw themselves and understood the world.

This week, Donald looks at Beethoven’s humble beginnings as a child born into a family of court musicians, working for the Archbishop-Elector’s retinue in Bonn, Germany. He showed musical talent early and followed his father and grandfather into the Elector’s employ as soon as he reached his teens. Would he continue to follow the family pattern and retire there too?

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven Unleashed: Making a Manhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dpzm

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the myriad influences on the life’s work of Karol Szymanowski.

The reshaping of Europe at the end of the First World War had a defining effect on Polish composer Karol Szymanowski. As Europe was being reapportioned, the comfortable world he’d known up to that point disappeared for good. His family’s comfortable and cultured life disappeared, their assets wiped out by the October Revolution. From that point on, Szymanowski ceased to be a man of some privilege, able to compose in the relative seclusion of his family’s estate in what was then part of Ukraine. He needed to support himself and his mother and sisters but he found himself ill-equipped temperamentally to deal with this dramatic change in his lifestyle. He became increasingly weighed down by illness, quite probably tuberculosis. That, coupled with a chain-smoking habit and struggles with alcoholism, were to take their toll. He died in poverty at the age of just 54 in 1937.

Across the week, Donald Macleod explores five distinct influences on Szymanowski’s music, starting with his formative years growing up in a family with a passion for the arts. As a young student, his studies in Warsaw led him towards the language of Richard Strauss and Max Reger, while his love of travel directed him towards impressionism, the ancient world and the Orient. Meeting Stravinsky in Paris and hearing the Ballets Russe was another turning point, as was in his later years in particular, his commitment to establishing a national musical voice for the newly formed country of Poland.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Karol Szymanowskihttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000dj02

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

All through 2020, as part of Radio 3's Beethoven Unleashed season, Donald Macleod takes an unprecedented deep dive into the compelling story and extraordinary music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In this uniquely ambitious series, told across 125 episodes of Composer of the Week, Donald puts us inside Beethoven’s world and explores his hopes, struggles and perseverance in all the colourful detail this amazing narrative deserves. Alongside this in-depth biography, Donald will also be meeting and talking to Beethoven enthusiasts and experts from across the world to discover how his music continues to speak to us in the twenty-first century. Through story and sound, the series builds into a vivid new portrait of this composer, born 250 years ago this year, who made art that changed how people saw themselves and understood the world.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Beethoven: Why Beethoven?https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000d7zg

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of George Walker, in conversation with his son Gregory.

When Rosa King Walker announced to her five-year-old son George that, like it or not, he was going to have piano lessons, she can scarcely have been aware that she was dispatching him on a lifelong journey in music. He made his concerto début at the age of 23 playing Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto, with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the great Eugene Ormandy. A stellar career on the concert platform surely beckoned, but in the event, things were not so straightforward. We’ll hear how Walker began to turn his back on the idea of a solo career, gravitating instead towards a life in teaching – and, increasingly, composition. Donald and Gregory discuss Walker’s studies with the formidable Nadia Boulanger, the relief when his commissions started rolling in, and the far reaches of his stylistic ambition. Walker won the epic Pulitzer Prize for music in 1996 for his piece Lilacs, a career-defining moment, which makes what happened next in Walker’s career all the more surprising. “I got probably more publicity nationwide than perhaps any other Pulitzer Prize-winner,” he recalled in 2015. “But not a single orchestra approached me about doing the piece or any piece. It materialized in nothing.” In this emotional look back at the life and work of his father, Gregory discusses identity, representation and perseverance, ending with the story of his swansong, Visions, inspired by the tragedy of the Charleston church massacre.

Music featured:Response String Quartet No 1 Lyric for StringsPiano Sonata No 1Cello Sonata Trombone ConcertoThe Bereaved MaidSonata No 1 for violin and pianoSpatialsVariations for Orchestra Five Fancies for clarinet and piano four hands (Theme and 5 variations)Piano Concerto Music for Brass (Sacred and Profane)CantataPiano Sonata No 4Sinfonia No 1Hey Nonny No (anon)Poème for violin and orchestraIn Time of Silver RainMother Goose (Circa 2054)LilacsModusIcarus in OrbitPiano Sonata No 5Da Camera, for piano trio, harp, celesta, string orchestra and percussionViolin Concerto BleuSinfonia No 5 (‘Visions’)

Presented by Donald MacleodProduced by Chris Barstow for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for George Walker https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cz2q

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod delves into the international successes of Arcangelo Corelli.

Arcangelo Corelli was something of a European phenomenon not only during his lifetime, but also after his death. His compositional output was not large, but the development of the printing press enabled his music to be widely circulated. Musically, he bridged the gap between the Baroque and the Classical periods, and is seen as pivotal in the development of the sonata and the concerto. Even today, Corelli’s music is held in high esteem, with composers still inspired by his music. As a violinist he was also legendary, and people flocked from all over Europe to not only hear him play, but to also be taught by him. Corelli spent most of his career in Rome, maintained in some luxury by royalty, nobility and the Church. During his career he collaborated with many other composers including Alessandro Scarlatti and Handel. Despite his fame and continued popularity, we still know relatively little about Corelli, and this Composer of the Week series seeks to explore the man and his music through his personal and professional relationships.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Arcangelo Corelli. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000d6y6

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the music of Johannes Brahms through his close relationships.

Brahms was a deeply private man and very guarded about his life, his friends and his feelings. Across this week, Donald goes “Behind Closed Doors” with Brahms to discover what really made him tick. He finds friends, mentors and lovers along the way who together help solve the enigma of the composer.

We’ll hear about Brahms’s doomed early romance with a young singer, Agathe von Siebold, plus his lifelong friendships with Robert, and particularly Clara Schumann - probably the person he was closest to in his life. Donald explores the music written for some of the women he knew intimately, and why he sought solitude and how it came to influence his music. Throughout his life, there was a great expectation placed on Brahms’s shoulders. We end by looking at how that shaped his character and music.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Johannes Brahms. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cb1x

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod surveys the life, music and quirks of Australian composer, Percy Grainger

Donald Macleod begins this week episode about Percy Grainger by tracing the composer's ambivalent relationship with his primary musical instrument, the piano, and the ever-present influence of his mother. He then follows Grainger to London, where his composing took second place to performing, leading to concert tours of Scandinavia, South Africa, New Zealand and back home to Australia. We’ll also hear about his enthusiastic and sometimes controversial role in the folksong revival of the 1900s, away from starchy drawing rooms and concert halls. Donald keeps up with Grainger during an anxiety-ridden move to America during the First World War. To end, he explores some of the composer's more unsavoury views and his quest for musical 'freedom'.

Music featured:Mowgli's Song Against People Molly on the ShoreWalking TuneTribute to FosterMarching Song of DemocracyHill-Song 1 and 2Handel in the StrandEnglish DanceColonial SongScotch Strathspey and ReelThe WarriorsBrigg FairCreeping JaneI'm Seventeen Come SundayFour Settings from 'Songs of the North'Green BushesLincolnshire PosyCountry GardenSuite: In a NutshellThe Power of Rome and the Christian HeartIrish Tune from County DerryThe Bride's TragedyShepherd's HeyThe Power of LoveJutish Melody (Danish Folk Song Suite)To a Nordic PrincessImmovable Do Free Music Free Music No 2The Jungle Book (excerpts)

Presented by Donald MacleodProduced by Martin Williams for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Percy Grainger. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000c4kf

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

One of the most original voices of the twentieth century, Leoš Janáček was a composer, musical theorist, folklorist and teacher. Born in 1854 in the Moravian village of Hukvaldy, which was then part of the Austrian Empire, in his youth German was the language of government, education and social influence. Having returned from studies in Germany, Janáček made detailed studies of native folk song and spent years annotating the natural rhythms of the Czech language. He was to write all his works for stage in his native language. The range of his professional activities gave him a range of outlets to voice what quickly became a life-long commitment to Czech culture.

Janáček was a contradictory man, who spent much of his life feeling at odds with his circumstances. Through five of his closest relationships, Donald Macleod builds a picture of how his inner tensions found expression in his music.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Leoš Janáček https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cr48

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod charts the extraordinary life of composer and jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams’ music stands out from the crowd because, as Duke Ellington recognised, “her writing and performing have always been just a little ahead throughout her career.” A prolific composer and arranger, she was also a gifted pianist. A master of blues, boogie woogie, stride, swing and be-bop, Williams was quick to absorb the prevailing musical currents in her own music, naturally able to exploit her ability to play anything she heard around her. It is this restless musical curiosity that defines her own compositions, and led her to become friends with and mentor many younger musicians, among them Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

Born around 1910 in Atlanta, Georgia, Williams grew up in Pittsburgh, where she had to overcome racial segregation, gender discrimination and the disadvantages of an impoverished family to realise her musical ambitions. Learning to play entirely by ear, she was performing locally by age six. Barely into her teens she was touring professionally as a pianist, living proof that - contrary to the prevailing views - women really could play jazz as well as men. But her artistic success came at some personal cost, with instances of domestic abuse, two divorces, a gambling addiction, and the ongoing strain of trying to support her extended family, all taking its toll over the years. After taking a spiritual path, she spent some years trying to rehabilitate addicted musicians, and developed an interest in writing sacred jazz pieces, and after a long career of some sixty years she took on the mantle of educating future generations about the cultural roots of jazz.

Over the course of the episode, Donald Macleod follows Mary Lou Williams as her life and musical pathways intertwine, from the early years playing Kansas City swing, to embracing be-bop, religion and modern jazz.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Mary Lou Williams https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bdx1 And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod journeys through some of the contrasting sides of Sir Malcolm Arnold and his music

Sir Malcolm Arnold was a prolific composer, writing music in many different genres ranging from nine symphonies and over twenty concertos, to chamber music, music for brass bands and nearly one hundred and twenty film scores. These many works for film include classics such as Hobson’s Choice, Whistle Down the Wind, the St Trinian’s films, and The Bridge on the River Kwai for which he won an Oscar. He composed works for some of the very top performers in the music industry including Julian Bream, Julian Lloyd Webber, Larry Adler, Frederic Thurston, Benny Goodman, and collaborated with the likes of Deep Purple and Gerard Hoffnung. His music crossed social boundaries and gave pleasure to so many, and yet his personal life was marred by alcoholism, depression and periods of hospitalization. He’s been described as a larger than life character, outrageous, Falstaffian, Bohemian, and some of the stories which circulated about Arnold have become the stuff of legend.

Across the episode Donald Macleod traces Sir Malcolm Arnold’s life through exploring five different influences upon the composer’s music, from his love of Cornwall and Ireland, to his own mental and emotional wellbeing.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Malcolm Arnold https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b8hm

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the life, music and perseverance of Antonín Dvořák.

Antonín Dvořák was no spring chicken when he found success as a composer. He was in his early thirties before he made his mark in his native Czech Republic, despite composing from a young age. Donald Macleod follows Dvořák as he attempts to win over successive audiences: from Prague to Vienna, England to America, before eventually returning to Prague and to the opera stage. Who did he need to impress in order to achieve the success he craved?

Donald Macleod introduces us to Dvořák as he struggles to carve his path as a composer. We’ll meet his influential friends who championed his work, including Brahms, the conductor Hans Richter and the virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim. Dvořák’s ambition eventually took him to America, but as well as inspiring many of his best-known works, found him embroiled in arguments about the nature of American music and struggling with homesickness. Donald considers what drove Dvořák to tirelessly persevere, particularly with the operatic genre, when his other works were so well received by audiences at home and abroad.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Antonín Dvořák https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009zxh

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod talks to Sir Harrison Birtwistle about his life, inspiration and music.

This week Donald Macleod meets Sir Harrison Birtwistle, described as “the most forceful and uncompromisingly original composer of his generation.” We hear his major compositions, broadly in chronological order, and reveal the preoccupations and processes behind a singular music imagination.

To begin, we’ll hear about, Birtwistle’s daily working life, and about his early years among what became known as the Manchester school of composers. The premiere of his first opera Punch and Judy at Aldeburgh was infamous - much of the audience – including its commissioner Benjamin Britten – walked out at the interval. Next, we’ll hear about Birtwistle’s time in America and his friendship with Morton Feldman. They discuss some of his non-musical inspirations too: the power of mythology, the paintings of Paul Klee and the films of Quentin Tarantino. Birtwistle reveals how time, and the instruments for measuring time, have inspired many of his compositions, and how a lifelong fascination with moths inspired a new work meditating on loss.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Harrison Birtwistle https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009r3h

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod delves into the life and work of piano prodigy Muzio Clementi.

Muzio Clementi was one of the 18th and 19th century’s most revered musicians – a star performer, a composer admired by Czerny, Beethoven and Chopin and an astute musical businessman. However, he also had his detractors in his own time and history hasn’t been as kind to him as to the greater names of his time – Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Today his name is unfamiliar to most but it is certainly better known than the music he wrote. He was fortunate to have interactions with perhaps the world's three greatest composers, but this fortune may have also worked against him - putting him in direct competition with them. Across the episode, Donald Macleod explores Clementi’s contact with the greatest composers of his day, reassessing the life and music of the man known as the “father of the piano” in the light of these encounters. We’ll hear the stories of his musical duel with Mozart, stage-sharing with Haydn, brushes with Beethoven and dispute with John Field over a hat.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Muzio Clementi https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009bdq

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the music of Sergei Prokofiev and tells the story of his American dream.

After a series of revolutions in his native Russia, the young composer Sergei Prokofiev made the decision to leave his homeland and to head to the United States in search of fame and fortune. His years in the United States would turn into some of the most tumultuous of his life. Across this week, Donald explores how those years in exile and how it would prove to be one of his most challenging periods professionally, financially and personally. His life was set against the turbulent events of the first half of the twentieth century, and forces beyond his control so often intervened to scupper his grand ambitions.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Sergei Prokofiev https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00093cn

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the music and life of Gustav Mahler through five key themes.

This week’s episode begins with an exploration of love - a potent force in Mahler’s creative armoury, but, for Mahler’s wife Alma, it came at a heavy price. Mahler was also obsessed with human mortality, but that became all too real with the tragic death of his daughter Maria. We’ll also hear about the composer’s ambivalent relationship to religion. Despite his lack of adherence to a particular creed, Mahler’s work is shot through with a genuine religious sense. Next, Donald discusses the vein of tart humour in Mahler’s music, from the gently sardonic to the out-and-out grotesque. Finally Donald tells how Mahler’s profound love of the natural world seeped into almost everything he wrote.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Gustav Mahler https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008p73

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Frustratingly little is known about the tragically abbreviated life of the composer who is arguably Britain’s greatest, Henry Purcell. Purcell kept no diary of his own – at least none has survived – and if he was active as a letter-writer, precious little of his correspondence has come down to us. Our evidence for the facts of the composer’s life appears in a sequence of glimpses – a portrait here, an anecdote there, unvarnished entries in the official records of the time. Donald begins with a whistle-stop trip through the scanty facts of the composer’s biography, and then looks at a single year, 1680, in which Purcell emerged as one of the greatest contrapuntists of his time. We hear about the pieces he wrote to mark specific events, from King Charles’ escape from shipwreck to the passing of Queen Mary. Next, an excursion round six key Purcellian venues, from pint-sized York Buildings to gargantuan Westminster Abbey. Finally, Donald tells stories of the relatively small but extraordinarily rich body of work Purcell wrote for intimate, domestic settings.His smaller-scale work – catches, songs, keyboard and chamber music – is generally less well-known, but contains some absolute gems. In a sense, it’s the music that Purcell didn’t have to write.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Henry Purcell https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008gtl

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

It’s hard to think of a composer more gregarious than Schubert, and further removed from the image of the reclusive genius, closeted away in his artistic ivory tower, creating peerless masterpieces in splendid isolation. From his days at Vienna’s Stadtkonvikt, the Imperial Catholic boarding school that offered the best general and musical education in the Austrian capital, Schubert developed a wide and supportive network of highly cultured friends, with whom he explored art, politics, religion, literature, and, of course, music; frequented the odd tavern or three; and attended convivial social gatherings in the homes of well-heeled admirers, from which developed the tradition of the ‘Schubertiad’ – informal get-togethers devoted to the performance of Schubert’s music, and above all, his songs.

In this week's episode, we’ll start by meeting Schubert’s friends, and then take a trip round Vienna in search of Schubert’s audience. Next, Donald gives us a whistle-stop tour of the jaw-droppingly productive year that’s been called Schubert’s annus mirabilis, 1815. We’ll also hear how Schubert faced the challenge of following in Beethoven’s footsteps, and about the posthumous discovery of much of his music, including many of his most-loved works.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Franz Schubert https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00083n5

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod is joined by William Lyons to explore Guillaume Dufay's life and music.

The beauty, originality and technical mastery of Guillaume Dufay’s music illustrate why the Florentine ruler Piero de’Medici gave him the epithet “the greatest ornament of our age”. Undoubtedly he is one of the 15th century’s most distinctive voices. He was in his late 70s by the time he died in 1474; a long life by medieval standards. His outstanding talent transported him from an uncertain start in life as the illegitimate son of a servant and an unknown man, to being a musician who was feted at court, and respected by the church and the papacy alike. As his fame spread across Europe, he commanded the admiration of his fellow composers, influencing not only his direct contemporaries but also the generation of composers who succeeded him, among them Johannes Ockeghem.

Donald Macleod is joined by William Lyons, a historical music researcher and the founder of the ensemble The Dufay Collective. Pulling together what’s known about Dufay, across the episode, they build a picture of the man behind this illustrious reputation, examine the key relationships he fostered, and consider how his music flourished as he navigated the turbulent political currents of the age.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Guillaume Dufay https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007yz1

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores Edward Elgar’s music through the locations that inspired him.

Worcester-born, with his roots in the beautiful English countryside around Hereford and the Malverns yet drawn to the bright lights of London, English composer Edward Elgar moved house a lot. He lived in over 25 residences in his lifetime, stayed with friends, travelled often for work and pleasure in the UK, Europe and further afield, and had a number of second homes he rented as retreats. This week we’re focusing on the locations that were important to Elgar, and the places that inspired his music. Following Elgar’s journeys, Donald takes us from home life in the Midlands to country cottage holidays, summers in Europe and as far afield as the Amazon.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Edward Elgar https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000754h

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

As a virtuoso violinist, as a teacher, as a priest and as a prolific composer, Antonio Vivaldi was a key figure in Baroque Italy and remains one of the most famous names in classical music today. In this episode, Donald begins by exploring Vivaldi’s intrinsic link with his birth city, Venice, through a series of images. Next, he examines the depth of Vivaldi’s faith – as an ordained priest who didn’t say mass, there have been many questions asked about his piety. We’ll also hear about the composer’s many female muses, his rapid fall from grace to anonymity and the posthumous rediscovery of his music after a long period in the musical wilderness.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Antonio Vivaldi https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006zh2

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod talks to composer James MacMillan as he celebrates his 60th birthday

One of the UK’s most prolific living composers, James MacMillan was born on the 16th of July 1959 in Ayrshire. His grandfather introduced him to brass band music and his primary teacher taught him the recorder. The combination of these musical experiences sparked a lifelong passion in James to make and create music of his own. As well as James’s journey into music, we’ll hear about the birth of James’s political and religious views, and his critiques of Scotland which finds their way into his writing. Donald and James discuss the importance of the composer’s connection with his listeners and performers. His festival, the Cumnock Tryst, brings musical sharing to his community in Ayrshire, and his religious music continues to bring solace even in very difficult family times.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for James MacMillan https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006sjd

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

You’ll find a clue as to Carl Nielsen’s character in any number of photographs that show him smiling; they include snaps of him taken as a young man in which he’s cheekily pulling funny faces for the camera. They’re far removed from the formal portraiture one might expect of Denmark’s foremost composer. As well as a good sense of humour, these unselfconscious poses reveal an open, inquisitive fascination with the world around him.

In this episode, Donald Macleod explores how the world around him fed into Nielsen’s music. Excerpts from five of his symphonies reveal some of his most profound thinking on life, while his major choral works Hymnus Amoris and Springtime on Funen - which directly relate to his rural childhood - show a more personal side of his character. Ever the keen observer, there’s comedy and drama and even a musical portrait of chickens to be found in his operas.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Carl Nielsen https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006m0z

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod tells the story of the loss - and later rediscovery - of CPE Bach’s music

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach was many things in his lifetime: composer, virtuoso harpsichord player and improviser extraordinaire, author, businessman – publishing his own music – biographer – of his father and other members of his family, and teacher. This week we look at CPE Bach's music and reputation in the light of the sensational rediscovery of much of his archive in 1999. Throughout the episode we'll hear recent recordings of this 'new' music. We’ll learn about CPE’s musical crowd-funding, his emotive Empfindsamer style, his life in Hamburg, and how the discovery has changed the way Bach and his music is seen in 2019.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for CPE Bach https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0006fff

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald starts this week’s episode with a look at how Chopin’s Polish heritage shaped his music. Although he left the country at the age of 20, dance forms like the polonaise and mazurka left a strong mark on his writing. Next, we catch fleeting glimpses of the composer through his letters, and his relationship with his instrument, the piano. Chopin’s reticence to perform made his rare appearances extremely lucrative, but he much preferred the more intimate and sociable surroundings of the salon, where his trademark light touch could be appreciated to the full. We hear about Chopin through the eyes of his most illustrious contemporaries – his lover George Sand, and fellow composers Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann. To end, stories of the composer’s ever-feeble health – Berlioz is supposed to have said Chopin was “dying all his life” – which makes the scale of his achievement all the more heroic.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Fryderyk Chopin https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00066mv

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod on Jacques Offenbach - maestro of the Cancan and much more besides.

Today’s episode we meet Offenbach on the brink of defeat – when he decides to launch his own theatre company, ‘Les Bouffes-Parisiens’ in a tiny wooden shack on the Champs-Elysées. It was an instant and enduring success; over the next quarter-century, more than 50 of Offenbach’s musical comedies were to début there. We get an insight into the character of this driven creative artist – the man who “cannot stop working”. He even had his carriage kitted out with a writing desk, so that he could continue composing, scoring or revising as he travelled between venues. Next, we hear about his A-team librettists, Meilhac and Halévy, and a mysterious stranger makes him an offer he can’t refuse. Offenbach is whisked to the United States on a concert tour, where he is particularly fascinated by the women. Finally, Donald looks at Offenbach’s gout-ridden final years, and the opera he left unfinished on his death (The Tales of Hoffmann).

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Jacques Offenbach https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00061hq

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod introduces six composers who flourished under the rule of Elizabeth I.

The composers of 16th century England flourished under the rule of Elizabeth I, rapidly developing a diverse musical culture unparalleled anywhere on the continent, a truly Golden Age for English music. In this week of programmes Donald Macleod explores six composers who were key to this ascent - Thomas Morley, John Bull, Peter Philips, Thomas Weelkes, Orlando Gibbons and Thomas Tomkins. These composers were all active at around the same time as the “Father of British Musick” William Byrd and John Dowland, and all either studied or worked with Byrd, but they don’t often receive the same attention as those more famous names.

Music featured:Morley: It was a Lover and his lass / Hard by a Crystal Fountain / Now is the month of maying; Sing we and chant it; On a fair morning / Cruel, Wilt Thou Persever / Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis from First Service /

Tomkins: Fantasia a 6 no. 18 / Too Much I Once Lamented (for Byrd) / Oft did I marle (c.1622) / Know You Not / Cloris When As I Woo / O Let Me Live for True Love / Be Strong and of good courage / Offertory / Thou Art My King / Pavan “for these distracted times” / The Lady Folliot’s Galliard / Burial Sentences

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for England’s Golden Age https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005nly

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the music of Dmitry Shostakovich through the lens of his family life.

In this week’s episode, Donald introduces us to Shostakovich - the family man. Turning his attention to the middle of the Russian composer's life, we hear the story of his relationships with his two children (Galina, born in 1936, and Maxim, born in 1938) and his first wife Nina, who he was married to from 1935 until her death in 1954. Starting with the complicated early days of building a family, Donald tells us how Shostakovich celebrated the birth of his first daughter, plus the answer to an important question: was Shostakovich a cat or a dog person? Next, we meet the family as wartime evacuees and hear about the symphony that was almost lost in a toilet on a train. We join the Shostakoviches in a country retreat set up by the USSR Union of Composers, where they spent memorable summers, and hear about the terrifying moment Shostakovich received a phone call from Stalin. Lastly, Donald reveals how Shostakovich coped following Nina’s death, and the music which his grief inspired.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Dmitry Shostakovich https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0005736

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod surveys the life and music of Russian-born composer Igor Stravinsky.

In this week’s episode, Donald explores the composer who is said, in his music, to have ushered in the 20th century: Igor Stravinsky. His name is probably still most associated with the utterly extraordinary, revolutionary evening that prompted that accolade – the premiere of The Rite of Spring in Paris on the 29th of May 1913. We’ll hear about his pivotal relationships with fellow musician Rimsky-Korsakov, his assistant Robert Craft and the impresario Sergei Diaghilev. Plus, Donald delves into some of the most formative periods in Stravinsky’s life: his creative move towards neo-classicism, the death of his wife, his lonely exile to the USA, and his experiments with serialist methods.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Igor Stravinsky https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004y0p

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod follows Amy Beach’s quest to create a uniquely American sound in her music.

Amy Beach was born in the 19th century and, like all women composers of her generation, she found her path to greatness strewn with obstacles. This week, Donald Macleod charts her struggle to take control of her own destiny and become one of America’s most cherished cultural figures; a composer who helped lead her nation into the mainstream of classical music. Famed conductor, Leopold Stokowski noted that her symphony was “full of real music, without any pretence or effects but just real, sincere, simple and deep music.” In her search to develop her individual voice as a composer, Donald discusses the impact of her religious beliefs, her marriage and the places which shaped her work: her first tour of Europe, and the MacDowell Colony, where she composed most of her later works.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Amy Beach https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004ltq

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod tells the real story behind one of the most popular masterpieces ever composed.

In 1741 Handel packed his bags and left London for Dublin, where he spent nearly nine months writing and performing in the city. The main work that he premiered there was a new oratorio which proved to be one of the landmarks of his career. Across the week we hear the whole of Handel’s Messiah, uncover the secrets of its origins and dispel the myths that still surround it.

To begin this week’s episode, Donald and his guest Ruth Smith paint a picture of Handel’s life in London as he prepared to leave for Ireland, examining the way in which the texts and ideas of Messiah respond to the social and intellectual turbulence of the time. Next, they focus on Handel’s relationship with his extraordinary collaborator, Charles Jennens, who conceived the idea of Messiah. They discuss Handel’s arrival in Dublin and how he gathered his forces for his hotly-awaited concert series, the sensational reception of Messiah’s premiere, and the work’s long association with charity. Finally, we hear about the legacy left embedded in Messiah, and how the work has come to mean so much to generations of singers and music lovers long after the deaths of Handel and Jennens.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for George Frideric Handel https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004dq7

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

As a youngster, Berg loved the music of Brahms, Mahler and Richard Strauss and composed 34 songs as a teenager. Maybe this would have been the end of it, but his brother Charly secretly took some of these songs to show a music professor in the city - Arnold Schoenberg. This week’s episode begins with a look at their stimulating but often turbulent relationship. Donald tells the story of Berg’s long marriage to Viennese beauty Helene Nahowski, and the secrets beneath the surface, including Berg’s love affair with Hanna Fuchs-Robettin which permeated his compositions. We hear about how his time in army training led to physical collapse, from which he emerged to write a brutal opera – Wozzeck. Finally, Berg’s premature death from an infected insect sting, and how his wife Helene set up a shrine to his memory, forbidding the completion of Lulu, the unfinished opera he left behind.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Alban Berg https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00047vv

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the prolific life of Joseph Haydn, with a spotlight on his masses

Joseph Haydn’s prodigious creativity earned him the titles Father of the Symphony and Father of the String Quartet. However, he was also occupied with sacred music throughout his career. This week, as Donald Macleod follows Haydn’s journey from humble choirboy to Europe’s most celebrated composer, he shines the spotlight on music from Haydn’s many settings of the Mass. It's music that is as chock-full of invention and character as any of the instrumental forms he made his own.

In this week’s episode Donald illustrates Haydn’s generosity and sense of humour, the obstacles thrown into Haydn’s path throughout his career, the importance he placed on religion, and the effect war and turmoil had on his music. Also, the extraordinary story of how Haydn lost his head.

Music featured:Mass in B flat major ‘Harmoniemesse’ Symphony No 94 in G major ‘Surprise’ (Andante)Mass in B flat major ‘Theresienmesse’ String Quartet in B minor, Op 64 No 2Organ Concerto in C majorPiano Trio No 17 in F majorMass in G major ‘Missa Sancti Nicolai’: Agnus DeiStabat Mater: Sancta MaterMass in F major ‘Missa brevis a due soprani’Arianna a Naxos cantata: Aria ‘Dove sei’String Quartet in B flat major, Op 64 No 3Mass in C major Missa in tempore belli ‘Paukenmesse’ Symphony No 100 in G major ‘Military’ (2nd movement)Piano Trio No 39 in G major ‘Gypsy Rondo’Die Schöpfung, Part 2: Mass in D minor ‘Nelson Mass’ Trumpet Concerto in E flat major: movt I AllegroSymphony No 104 in D major ‘London’: movt IV Finale: SpiritosoMass in B flat major ‘Schöpfungsmesse’: Kyrie and Gloria

Presented by Donald MacleodProduced by Eleri Llian Rees for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Joseph Haydn https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00045nb

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod surveys the life and work of Francis Poulenc, a man full of contradictions

This week Donald Macleod explores five aspects of Poulenc’s personality and how they find expression in his music. 'In Poulenc there is something of the monk and something of the rascal' said the composer’s friend Claude Rostand - but there were other sources of inspiration that drove him. From the gregarious exploits of his youth to his serious engagement with Catholicism, from schmoozing in high society salons to the calm he sought at his country retreat and his struggles with depression, Donald surveys the life and music of a man full of contradictions.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Francis Poulenc https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003sh5 And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the music, and what little is known of the life, of Baroque master Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.

Biber’s first appearance in the historical records is in his early 20s, when we find him in the service of Karl Liechtenstein, prince-bishop of Olomouc in central Moravia. In this week’s episode, we meet Biber as he runs an errand for his boss, but mysteriously absconds en route, trading in his old employer for a new and even more illustrious one, Prince-Archbishop Maximilian Gandolph von Küenburg. In Salzburg, Biber put down roots, married the daughter of a wealthy local businessman, fathered eleven children and gradually rose through the court ranks to become Kapellmeister. His risky career-gamble had paid off. Donald introduces us to the musical legacy the elusive composer left behind, playing Biber’s best-known work (his Mystery, or Rosary, Sonatas) as well as his music for church and stage. We also learn about his close relationships with the violin and his home of Salzburg, and the five remarkable printed collections of instrumental music that spread his name across Europe.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biberhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003rq6

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of the bandoneon virtuoso and composer Astor Piazzolla, through five key locations.

All his life he fought against the tide, and in the end, he was the victor. Astor Piazzolla was a rebel with a cause. A virtuoso bandoneon player and a composer, he set out to break tango free from its roots, and make it a music with a future far beyond the dance halls and cafes of 1950s Buenos Aires. Hits like “Libertango” and collaborations with jazz giants like Gary Burton and Gerry Mulligan made his name beyond the tango world, while his classical compositions brought his instrument, the bandoneon critical acclaim in the concert hall. The secrets of musical technique came, he said, from his studies with French pedagogue, Nadia Boulanger and Argentinian composer, Alberto Ginastera but they also came from his teenage experiences in Buenos Aires, the city where had played bandoneon and arranged music for Anibal Troilo’s famous tango band.

Across the week Donald Macleod traces Astor Piazzolla’s life through the places which played an important part in his musical development: New York, Buenos Aires, Paris, Rome and the Uraguayan resort of Punta del Este.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Astor Piazzolla https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003c6f

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Berlioz is perhaps unique among composers in having had a literary gift almost the equal of his musical one. He earned his bread-and-butter living as a writer, turning out witty and often acerbic music criticism for the influential Journal des débats and Gazette musicale among others. Donald starts this week with a look at Berlioz through his engaging, passionate and entertaining Memoirs. Next, he delves into the world of Berlioz’s literary muses – first and foremost, Virgil, Goethe and Shakespeare. We hear about Benvenuto Cellini, the opera whose “verve, impetus and brilliance” Berlioz feared he would never again equal, and his attempt to secure the coveted Prix de Rome amidst the thundering July Revolution. We also encounter some of the celebrated musicians he rubbed shoulders with – among them Liszt, Cherubini, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Wagner and Paganini.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Hector Berliozhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000345c

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod visits Debbie Wiseman at home to discuss her long and varied career.

Debbie Wiseman has over two hundred credits for her music, ranging from television and film, to the concert hall and music for royal pageantry. Not only is she a multi-award winning composer, but also a teacher, pianist and conductor, often performing in and recording her own works. This week, Donald Macleod visits Debbie Wiseman at her home in London to discuss her long and varied career. We hear about the film composer's craft of evoking different worlds in music, Debbie’s belief in versatility and lifelong learning, the challenges of composing for royal events, and her life outside the studio.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Debbie Wisemanhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002zfy

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod travels alongside J S Bach as he moves from place to place throughout his life.

Donald begins with Bach’s early years in the towns of Eisenach and Ohrdruf, where his excellence as a singer and organist was first recognised. He first moved to Weimar at the age of 18, to work as a court musician, and later as an organist and concertmaster – it was here that he would write most of his organ repertoire, but also spent his time trying to please two antagonistic Dukes. Then we move to the city of Köthen, where Bach was employed at the court of Prince Leopold. The royal court offered Bach exactly what he had been denied in Weimar – the chance to build a really exceptional instrument ensemble. We arrive in Leipzig, where Bach was a public servant again, having to satisfy a plethora of different bodies and individuals. Although his time there was peppered with disputes and discontent, it was his home for 27 years and it is where he composed the bulk of the work that lives on. Finally, Donald explores the afterlife of Bach’s music, including his propulsion into outer space aboard the Voyager spacecraft’s Golden Record.

Music featured:MagnificatBrandenburg Concerto No.3 in G majorConcerto in C major for organPartita No 1 for violinWiderstehe doch der SundeCapriccio on the Departure of his Most Beloved Brother Komm, Jesu, Komm Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organViolin Partita No. 2 in D minorTritt auf die GlaubensbahnThe Art of FugueCello Suite No 1 in G Major Sonata for Violin and Piano No 3 Concerto No 2 in F major Well-Tempered Clavier, No 1 in C majorJesu, Joy of Man's Desiring Violin Sonata No 1 in G minorOrchestral Suite No 4 in D majorMusical OfferingMass in B minorPartita for Violin No 3 in E major Capriccio in E major St Matthew PassionGoldberg Variations

Presented by Donald MacleodProduced by Martin Williams for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Johann Sebastian Bachhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002l9v

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Melody, said Bruch, represents the “soul of music” and nowhere is that better represented than in his famous violin concerto. It’s a work which brought him fame and fortune, but it’s also a work he came to hate, since he felt its popularity suppressed performances of his other compositions. It’s a sentiment that has some justification, since Bruch wrote some two hundred odd works, the majority of which are rarely performed. This week, Donald Macleod looks at Max Bruch’s prickly professional relationships, his feeling of being overshadowed by Brahms, and the instrument with which he had a very close affinity.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Max Bruch:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002gxf

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of African-American composer William Grant Still (1895-1978).

This week Composer of the Week looks at Still’s transformative period of study with mentor Edgard Varèse, the writing of his breakthrough 1st Symphony the ‘Afro-American’, being embraced by the American musical establishment and becoming the first African-American to conduct a major US symphony orchestra, and his uphill struggles to establish himself as a composer of opera.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for William Grant Still:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002cbd

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Michael Tippett was a particularly absorbent composer, soaking up an incredibly wide range of inspirations and influences from the world around him, and perhaps most often from outside the field of music. His huge intellectual capacity and endless interest in other people combined with immense charisma to make him a personality to which everyone who met him seemed irresistibly drawn. His - often complex - relationships were particularly intense ones, and frequently blurred the lines between professional and personal, artistic and sexual.

This week Composer of the Week looks at some of the people closest to Tippett and asks what influence they had on the life and music of a man whose story has still never been fully told. Joining Donald Macleod to explore sometimes uncharted territory is Oliver Soden, the author of a new - and the first complete - biography of the composer.

Music featured:Where The Bee Sucks from Songs for Ariel A Child of Our Time (Part 1) Byzantium Purcell arr. Tippett: If music be the food of love Piano Sonata No 1, 1st movement: Allegro Suite in D for the Birthday of Prince CharlesThe Heart’s Assurance Variations on an Elizabethan Theme: Lament Fantasia Concertante on a theme of Corelli The Midsummer Marriage Praeludium For Brass, Bells And Percussion Music String Quartet No 1: Lento CantabileSymphony No 2: Adagio molto e tranquillo Songs for Achilles The Knot Garden: Enough, Enough Tippett: Dance, Clarion Air Piano Concerto – 1: Allegro non troppo Crown of the YearThe Blue GuitarThe Rose Lake

Presented by Donald MacleodProduced by Dominic Jewel for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Michael Tippett:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00028h7

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod delves into the life and work of Franz Liszt through five striking images.

Franz Liszt was the most photographed man of the 19th century and the most sculpted man aside from Napoleon - one of the most recognisable figures of his age. Donald Macleod delves into the life and work of the prolific composer and virtuoso pianist through five intriguing images. Through these, he examines the promotion of Liszt as a child prodigy, and how his persona of the ‘dramatic virtuoso’ was created. We also hear about Liszt’s complicated relationships: with women and his friend Richard Wagner, and his frantic threefold existence, living between Rome, Weimar and Budapest.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Franz Liszt:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00022zn

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

At his death in 1764, Rameau, by then an octogenarian, had more than 30 stage works to his credit. It’s a remarkable achievement when you consider he produced his first opera at the age of 50. Up to that point, although details about his life are surprisingly patchy, he appears to have held a succession of posts in the provinces, as an organist, teacher and theoretician, seemingly without even a whiff of greasepaint. Then, at an age when one might assume his chosen path was settled, Rameau upped sticks, came back to Paris and conquered the stage with breathtaking speed. Across the week Donald Macleod focusses on those heady, initial years in the French capital, building a picture of what made Rameau into a highly successful, if controversial, theatrical composer.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Jean-Philippe Rameau: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00893kl

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Mendelssohn was a leading figure of German music in his day, and became something of an international celebrity. He was at the very forefront of music making during the 1830s and 1840s, as a composer, conductor, pianist and organist. He began as a highly gifted and versatile prodigy, and rose to become one of Germany’s first rank composers of the early romantic period. He composed music in many genres including concertos, oratorios, symphonies, songs and chamber music. Amongst some of his most famous works are the highly evocative and dramatic overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and his mature and richly romantic Violin Concerto.

In Composer of the Week, Donald Macleod journeys through the life of Felix Mendelssohn, exploring in particular a number of influences upon the composer’s works: Mozart, his travels in Italy, Bach, his visits to London, and his wife and muse, Cecile.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Felix Mendelssohn: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001xj5

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

When a second-hand piano was hoisted through the window of the Gershwin family’s Lower East Side apartment, a window was quite literally opened onto a new world. Donald begins by looking at Gershwin’s early and lifelong love of the instrument. For many, he was the foremost composer of the "jazz age" and it's through jazz-inflected interpretations that his music has reached its widest audience. Next, Donald tells the story of Gershwin's excursions in the concert hall. He may have been the toast of Broadway, but his attempts to move musically out of the theatre district and into the hallowed portals of the city’s concert halls were, despite some successes, constantly frustrated and a source of disappointment to him. To end, Donald charts George Gershwin's final years, partly spent in a ramshackle beach cottage on Folly Island in South Carolina. His memorable musical experiences with the local Gullah people eventually inspired his magnum opus, the opera Porgy and Bess.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for George Gershwin: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001tjn

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod journeys through Christmas week in the company of Heinrich Schütz.

Donald begins by dipping a toe into the fertile archival territory of Schütz’s own writings, a fascinating window onto the life of the composer. Then we’re to the Striezelmarkt for a pastry and a glass of Glühwein, with a look at Christmas in 17th-century Dresden. Onwards to Venice, where Schütz studies with Gabrieli and hobnobs with Monteverdi. Next, things turn serious, as Schütz is swept up in the convulsions of the 30 Years’ War and its impact is felt on musical life. Finally, Donald looks at the great music of Schütz’s final years, his attempts to retire – and eventually bids farewell with his Schwanengesang.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Heinrich Schütz: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001qgh

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Rimsky-Korsakov’s music is filled with lush orchestration and hints of orientalism and folk music. These elements and his role as a leading member of “The Mighty Handful” of composers who sought to forge a truly nationalistic music have led him to be regarded as the main architect of the Russian style of composition we know today. We hear about Rimsky Korsakov’s lifelong relationship with the sea, his fascination with myths and folklore, the acts of rebellion which pepper his life, his changing religious beliefs and his carefully constructed legacy.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001n89

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod delves into the character and music of Camille Saint-Saëns

This week’s episode begins with a look at Saint-Saëns the innovator, who introduced new-fangled ideas to an opera-loving Parisian public. Donald investigates the driving force behind the composer’s unstoppable ambition and his dogged determination to find an audience for his music. Next, the playful side of Saint-Saëns’ character - one which he kept under wraps in public, yet amongst friends and in private correspondence he sparkled with wit, and it reveals itself in some of his most popular and enduring music. We hear about the many obstacles Saint-Saëns encountered in his attempts to be recognised as a serious operatic composer, and finally, the composer’s critical views on emerging musical trends in the final decades of his life, when he was condemned as a reactionary for his outmoded attitudes.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Camille Saint-Saëns: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001d2q

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald starts the journey in Homewood, Pittsburgh, where Billy Strayhorn’s early life was over-shadowed by poverty and a violent father. Over six years of toil as a “soda jerk and delivery boy” he saved up for music college, but an Art Tatum record showed him that everything he loved about classical music was there in one form or another in jazz. Strayhorn cut free and moved to New York, where his path crossed with Duke Ellington. He was quick to discover an exciting new world of opportunity, playing and writing for Ellington’s famous band – a complex relationship that continued for almost thirty years. Work took him to Hollywood - Donald explores the reasons why this turned out to be both an opportunity and a source of disillusionment. We also hear of Strayhorn’s love affair with Paris, the city where he found the night-life and the artistic independence he craved, and where he was given the chance to record his first album under his own name. Finally, Donald charts the ups and many downs of Strayhorn's final years, which he spent in Riverside Drive, New York.

Music featured:Take the “A” Train Lush Life Valse Something to Live For Fantastic Rhythm Suite for the DuoMy little Brown BookThe HuesSniborTonkPassion Flower Your Love has faded Three and Six Grouya/Anderson, arr. Strayhorn: Flamingo Chelsea Bridge Strayhorn/Ellington: The Perfume SuiteClementineEllington/Strayhorn/Gaines: Just a-sittin' and a rockin' Rain Check Pentonsilic You're the One Tchaikovsky, arr Strayhorn: The Nutcracker Suite Boo-dahBallad for very tired and very sad lotus eaters Johnny Come Lately Satin Doll Music for The Love of Don Perlimplin for Belisa in their Garden The Newport Jazz Festival SuiteMulticoloured Blue Day DreamUMMGEllington/Strayhorn: Smada Cue's Blue Now Far East Suite Blood Count Cashmere Cutie Le Sacre SupremeLotus Blossom

Presenter: Donald MacleodProducer: Johannah Smith for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Billy Strayhorn: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00016tc

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod presents five takes on the life and music of Gioachino Rossini.

Donald starts by unpacking the winning formula Rossini hit on right at the start of his operatic career. Aged 18, Rossini was thrown in at the deep end, learning on the job at Venice’s Teatro San Moisè, and the structural groundplan he concocted for his early farces continued to come in handy later in life. Rossini is best known as a composer of comic operas, but Donald introduces us to his serious side, looking at three of his opere serie: Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra, Zelmira and Ermione. Next, a look at Rossini’s life through the enthusiastic but distorting lens of the writer Stendahl, the composer’s earliest biographer and an eyewitness of his most productive period. Donald then delves into the large collection of music that Rossini didn’t have to write – his forays into other genres and forms that came out of his spare time and retirement. Finally, we journey to Paris, to explore the composer’s on-off relationship with the city where he wrote so many of his most celebrated works.

Presenter: Donald MacleodProducer: Chris Barstow for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Gioachino Rossini: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00013x1

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod marks 350 years since the birth of François Couperin, one of France’s most dazzling musical talents.

Donald begins by leading us through a gallery of the musical portraits that Couperin composed – depicting his contemporaries Lully and Corelli, his aristocratic patrons, and well-known mythological figures. Next, he delves into Couperin’s extraordinary musical family tree, boasting a long line of 7 Couperins who served as organist of St Gervais in Paris. Throughout his glittering career at court, Francois Couperin maintained a loyal connection with his family church and dedicated several works for liturgical use there. We also hear about Couperin’s time in the court of Louis XIV – as the Sun King's composer, writing music for the Versailles Chapel and court entertainment, but also as royal harpsichord tutor. Finally, Donald examines how Couperin embraced the new musical idioms emerging from other countries, and in particular introduced Italian flavours to his native French style.

Music featured:

La Couperin

Salve Regina

L’Apothéose de Corelli

La Charoloise

La Princesse de Sens

Arianne consolée par Bacchus

Regina coeli laetare, Alleluia

Louis Couperin: Five Fantasies

Pange lingua en basse

Quatre versets du motet

Armand-Louis Couperin: Simphonie de clavecins, in D major

La Manon

L’Enchanteresse

La Fleurie ou la tendre Nanette

Les plaisirs de Saint Germain en Laye

Domine salvum fac regem

Messe pour les couvents (Gloria)

Troisième Leçon

Les Nations (La Francois)

Messe pour les paroisses (Agnus Dei)

L’Art de toucher le clavecin

Respice in me

Concert Royaux (Premier Concert)

Pieces de violes avec la basse chifree (Deuxième Suite)

La Milordine

La Piemontoise

Les Gouts-reunis ou Nouveaux Concerts (Cinquième Concert)

Quatrième livre de Pieces de clavecin, Vingt-troisième ordre

Presenter: Donald Macleod

Producer: Luke Whitlock for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Francois Couperin : https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000114n

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald starts with Bruckner’s obsessive tendencies – from bar-counting to full-blown ‘numeromania’ which landed him in a sanatorium. We hear about Bruckner’s unshakeable religious belief, his influential divine visions, and his music for the church. Next, his veneration for Wagner - he was transformed by the experience of hearing Tannhaüser, and paid frequent tribute to the man he was wont to call “the master of all masters”. Bruckner was also one of music history’s great re-thinkers. His many musical revisions were driven by artistic insecurity, criticism and his constant search for proportion and balance. Finally, Bruckner’s superstitious nature is explored, particularly his fear of writing a ninth symphony.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Anton Bruckner: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000xj9

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod introduces a first in Composer of the Week’s seventy-year history, the Croatian Countess Dora Pejačević.

Donald is joined by Professor Koraljka Kos and Professor Iskra Iveljic to discuss the known facts about the life and music of this Countess and her family. Although Pejačević was born into one of the most influential aristocratic families in Croatia, she became rather critical of her own class in later life. Through her position she did have the opportunity to study in Germany with noted music teachers of the day, and met and collaborated with some of the literary giants of the early twentieth century. Upon her death at the age of only 37, she left a catalogue of over one hundred compositions displaying a unique voice now largely forgotten.

Music featured:

Romance, Op 22

Symphony in F sharp minor, Op 41

Zwei Nocturnes, Op 50 No 2

Piano Concerto in G minor, Op 33

Zwei Lieder, Op 27 No 1 (I creep along my way)

Warum? Op 13

Berceuse, Op 2

Papillon, Op 6

Sechs Fantasiestucke, Op 17

String Quartet in C major, Op 58

Canzonetta, Op 8

Violin Sonata, Op 43 (Adagio)

Phantasie Concertante, Op 48

Verwandlung, Op 37

Blumenleben, Op 19

Madchengestalten, Op 42

Drei Gesange, Op 53

Piano Quintet in B minor, Op 40 (Poco sostenuto)

Humoreske and Caprice, Op 54

Trio in C major, Op 29 (Scherzo: Allegro & Lento)

Liebeslied, Op 39

Piano Sonata in A flat major, Op 57

Presenter: Donald Macleod

Producer: Luke Whitlock for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Dora Pejačević: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000tqb

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Marking the centenary of his death, Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Hubert Parry.

Donald begins with the story of Parry's early years, rooted at Highnam Court in Gloucestershire, before looking at the period he was centred around Orme Square in London, the home of his teacher and mentor Edward Dannreuther. We hear about Parry’s connection with the long-running Three Choirs Festival: Parry’s father, Thomas Gambier Parry, was energetic and generous in his efforts to ensure the Festival’s survival, and the Three Choirs was to prove an important platform for his son’s music. Another hugely important institution to Parry was the Royal College of Music - in time, he would become Director of the College and an inspiration to the next generation of composers. We finish with the final years of Parry’s life, during World War One, when Parry's most enduring composition, Jerusalem, was first performed at the Queen’s Hall in London.

Music featured:

I was Glad

Freundschaftslieder

Bright Star

Fantasie Sonata in B major

Choral Prelude for Organ "On SS Wesley's Hampton"

Symphony No.1 (2nd movement)

Love is a bable

Cello Sonata in A

Take, O take those lips away

Partita in D Minor

String Quintet in E-Flat Major

Symphony No. 2 in F major (The Cambridge)

Long Since In Egypt's Plenteous Land

Blest Pair of Sirens

The Soul's Ransom

Symphony No.3 in C major (The English)

Who Can Dwell in Greatness

The Birds of Aristophanes

Crabbed Age and Youth

From Death to Life

Symphony No.4 (4th movement)

Jerusalem

Ode on the Nativity

Lord Let Me Know Mine End

Symphony No.5 in B minor (ii. Love)

Jerusalem

Presenter: Donald Macleod

Producer: Martin Williams for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Hubert Parry: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000nl6

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod is in conversation with Thea Musgrave as she celebrates her 90th birthday.

Donald and Thea begin by discussing her dream of becoming a composer, and the dreams that have inspired her works. Born in Edinburgh, Thea left her medical degree for music, winning a composition prize which took her to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger. A dream about a subversive clarinettist helped formed the idea for her breakthrough commission from the CBSO, the Concerto for Orchestra. They talk about her early electronic experimentation, and her idea of the dramatic abstract, where she experiments with spatial configurations of players and acoustic possibilities. Thea is also one of Britain’s most prolific living opera composers, bringing to the stage stories of figures like Mary Queen of Scots, Harriet Tubman, and Simón Bolívar. In 1970 she was offered the post of Guest Professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara and has lived and made her life as a composer in the States ever since. Donald asks her about her approach to teaching and encouraging young composers. They look at the importance of visual art in Thea’s life and imagination, leading to significant compositions inspired by Edward Hopper and J. M. W. Turner. Finally, Thea reflects on the continuing pleasure she derives from composing, as well as her on-going friendships with players, and she stresses the vital part that music plays in all of our lives.

Music featured:

Driving in the Highlands (Excursions for piano duet)

Four Madrigals

Rorate Coeli

Impromptu for flute and oboe

Concerto for Orchestra

Niobe for oboe and pre-recorded tape

Concerto for horn and orchestra

Wild Winter I

The Peace Chorus (Mary Queen of Scots, Act 1)

The Seasons

Helios - Concerto for oboe and orchestra

On the Underground, Set 2: The Strange and the Exotic

Night Windows for oboe and piano

Turbulent Landscapes for orchestra

On the Underground, Set 1: Sometimes

Songs for a Winter’s Evening

Two’s Company – a concerto for percussion and orchestra

Presenter: Donald Macleod

Producer: Rosie Boulton for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Thea Musgrave: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000kg9

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Reluctant even to visit at first, and once there always more than a little homesick, this proudly Russian composer in fact lived in the United States of America for 25 years, from the end of the First World War until his death in 1943. His life there was principally that of a virtuoso performer, not a composer; and Rachmaninov gave recitals for presidents, recorded discs for Thomas Edison, and felt obliged to rattle off his “hated” Prelude in C sharp minor for concert audiences wherever he went.

All this week, Donald looks at Rachmaninov’s equivocal relationship with his adopted homeland. Rachmaninov’s first toured the USA in 1909, but it was only when he fled the 1917 revolution that he had to properly adjust to life as a concert pianist there. His intense performing schedule left him exhausted – we hear about the year 1926, which dedicated solely to composition, and how he found productive solace during his in summers in Switzerland. Although Rachmaninov was slow to embrace his adopted country, never really learning proper English and always looking back longingly to mother Russia, he did come to love the United States, and eventually, in the final year of his life, became a citizen. By then he’d become immersed in American cultural life, relishing jazz music and even admiring Mickey Mouse’s take on his ubiquitous Prelude.

Music featured:

Prelude in C sharp minor

Piano concerto in D minor, 1st movement

The Isle of the Dead, Op 29

A Dream (6 Songs, Op 38 No 5)

The Star-Spangled Banner for piano

Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor, 1st movement

Polichinelle in F sharp minor, Op 3 No 4

Lento a capriccio (The Bells)

Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 in C sharp minor (Liszt, arr. Rachmaninov)

Liebeslied (arr. for piano)

Etudes Tableaux, Op 33, Nos 2 and 7

3 Russian Songs, Op 41

Marche (Etudes Tableaux, orch. Respighi)

Variations on a theme of Corelli, Op 42

Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Op 43

Symphony No 3 in A minor, Op 44, second movement

Prelude in C sharp minor (arr. Barnet)

3 Symphonic Dances, Op 45

The Muse; What Happiness; Vocalise (14 Songs, Op 34)

Lilacs

Presenter: Donald Macleod

Producer: Dominic Jewel for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Rachmaninov: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000hb7

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the conflicted relationships and mysteries in the life of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Donald begins this week’s episode by looking at Tchaikovsky’s early years as a civil servant, wrestling with the tension between his desire to compose music and his responsibilities as a bureaucrat in St Petersburg. We hear about some of the composer’s tricky relationships - with the ascendant Nationalist school of Russian composers, and also with money. His need to earn a living and support himself by the music he composed led to an unconventional connection with one wealthy woman in particular. Donald traces Tchaikovsky’s long period of wandering, in which he spent years away from Russia, seemingly compelled by a disordered, un-reconciled personal life. Tchaikovsky was a mystery to the end, and there are many questions surrounding the puzzle of his death, which happened just days after the premiere of his sixth symphony, considered by many to be his finest work.

Music featured:

Swan Lake (Act 2)

Eugene Onegin (Act 3, Scene 1)

Song for the Golden Jubilee of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence

Piano Concerto No. 1 (1st movement)

Romeo and Juliet

Chant sans paroles (Souvenir de Hapsal)

None but the Lonely Heart

String Quartet no.1

The Snow Maiden, First Song of Lel

Finale: Moderato assai - allegro vivo – presto (Symphony No. 2)

1812 Overture

March: The Song of the Lark (The Seasons)

The Tempest

Piano Trio, 1st movement

Finale (Symphony No 4)

Pimpinella (Romances, Op 38, No 6)

Valse Sentimentale

Violin Concerto

Danse des polichinelles et des histrions (Maid of Orleans)

Souvenir de Florence (1st and 2nd movements)

We Sat Together

Act 1, March (The Nutcracker)

Piano Concerto No 3

Adagio & Waltz (The Sleeping Beauty - Suite)

Symphony No 6

Presenter: Donald Macleod

Producer: Martin Williams for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Tchaikovsky: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000bbv

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the friendships, influences and struggles in the life and work of Ernest Chausson.

Amédée-Ernest Chausson grew up in Paris during a period of great political, social and economic upheaval in France, from the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War to the advent of the Third Republic. His family, however, was materially little affected, profiting from their involvement in Napoleon’s remodelling of the medieval city into wide open boulevards. Living a bourgeois lifestyle amongst the salon society of the mid-nineteenth century, they boasted an extensive art collection in their family mansion, where Chausson later remained with his wife and children. Supported by a private income unlike most of his creative peers, he was able to devote himself to composing with no financial pressure. But Chausson’s life wasn’t without a care in the world. Critics saw him as a dilettante, and his relatively small output reflects the agonies of doubt in his mind. He battled to find his own voice at a time when Wagner had cast a long shadow over French music - his only opera took almost ten years to complete. This struggle for artistic recognition was only just turning a corner when he died unexpectedly at the age of 44 in 1899.

In this episode, Donald Macleod looks at the cultural advantages of Chausson’s family circle, fostering his passion for art which he indulged at home and on his travels. He uncovers Chausson’s musical friendships with Debussy and Franck, and his struggles to create – the torment of writing a symphony, and how enchanted forests, myths and legends inspired his rare forays into the world of theatre.

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Chausson: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000092k

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod is joined by Bernstein protegée, conductor Marin Alsop, to look back at Bernstein’s hectic life as composer, pianist, thinker and entertainer.

There are no neutrals when it comes to Leonard Bernstein: exhibitionist, a playboy touring Italy in a Maserati, an exhilarating conductor, provocative thinker, ‘one of the most electrifying personalities of our time’. 2018 marks the centenary of this life-affirming composer who always preferred to call himself, simply, ‘musician’.

Donald and Marin begin in the world of jazz which inspired much of Bernstein’s finest work, then look at the composer’s gift for reaching new audiences through the theatre. They discuss Bernstein’s reputation as a musical thinker– treading a delicate line between the innovative and the kitsch, and trace his journey from upstart son of a Jewish immigrant to superstar ambassador for American music.

Thanks to the BBC radio and TV archives, we hear from Bernstein himself in interviews he gave through the course of his prolific career. We discover a man who was forceful in his views, passionate to the extreme, charismatic on the stage, but also latterly tormented by regrets and a feeling that he had never quite achieved the magnum opus inside him.

Music featured:

Enter Three Sailors (Fancy Free)

Prelude, Fugue and Riffs

The Lark (Latin Choruses)

The Age of Anxiety (part 2)

arr. Buddy Rich: West Side Story

The Children Fly (Peter Pan)

Wonderful Town (Overture)

A Quiet Place (Act 1 finale)

West Side Story (excerpts)

Slava! A Political Overture

Mass (excerpts)

I Hate Music!

Kaddish (1st mvt)

Samba (Divertimento)

Mr and Mrs Webb Say Goodnight (Arias and Barcarolles)

On the Waterfront (Suite)

Songfest (excerpts)

Lucky to be Me (On the Town)

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Bernstein: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00007gc

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Donald Macleod explores the strange, brilliant and occasionally nightmarish world of the Soviet composer Alfred Schnittke.

The music of Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) is like being lost in a hall of mirrors. Staring back at you is the whole of music history - from Bach to modern pop via tangos, Soviet work songs, Gregorian chant and Viennese waltzes - refracted and distorted, and woven together to create a uniquely personal style. Thrilling, grotesque, occasionally nightmarish - Schnittke creates a world where everything has a hidden meaning. Beethoven's Fifth suddenly springs terrifyingly out of the darkness in the midst of an otherwise chaotic symphony. Or a cheap Russian pop song appears inexplicably amidst a Baroque chorale. Schnittke's world of suppressed meanings perfectly captured life under the cosh of Soviet Communism. All this week, Donald Macleod unpicks the strands of a musician often seen as the heir to Shostakovich - and perhaps the last truly great composer of the 20th century.

Donald begins by exploring the connections - musical, psychological and spiritual - between Alfred Schnittke and the great titan of Soviet music, Dmitri Shostakovich. He then unravels the term "polystylism", which Schnittke himself coined to describe his fusing of wildly eclectic styles - from Bach to pop to hypermodernism to Tchaikovsky. We hear about Schnittke’s intense fame in the 1970s, and how his turn to a deeply devout musical style shocked the avant-garde and won him a whole new spectrum of admirers. Donald takes us through Schnittke’s most rollicking and significant year – 1985 – which saw the creation of five acknowledged masterpieces and the first of several crippling strokes. Seemingly, Schnittke’s mortality drove him to create ever more shattering music in his final years - to compose to the very bitter end, in the face of almost unimaginable physical challenges.

When They Beheld The Ship That Suddenly Came; If You Wish To Overcome Unending Sorrow; I Entered This Life Of Tears A Naked Infant (Psalms Of Repentance)

Moz-Art A La Haydn

Viola Concerto (1st & 2nd mvts)

Concerto Grosso No 4 / Symphony No 5 (2nd mvt)

Doctor Faustus lamented and wept...It came to pass (Faust Cantata)

Menuet, for violin, viola and 'cello

Stille Nacht

Symphony No 6 (3rd & 4th mvts)

Piano Sonata No 1

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Schnittke: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bcpr22

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Aaron Copland is the composer who, more than any other, defined the sound of American classical music. Copland's life spanned every decade of the 20th Century, and this week Donald Macleod explores the composer's life and music against the background of the events of that Century.